The invention pertains to a connection of one end of an antiroll bar to a part, preferably a control arm of a wheel suspension of a motor vehicle, by means of a connecting rod which is connected both to the antiroll bar and to the wheel suspension by means of a joint.
It is conventional to connect the end of an antiroll bar, by means of a connecting rod, to a part of a wheel suspension of a motor vehicle, preferably to a control arm, with this connection being carried out by means of a respective joint. The angled ends of a conventional U-shaped connecting rod are provided with cross holes, in each of which is arranged a bearing shell. These bearing shells serve to accept a bearing journal which is arranged either at the end of an antiroll bar or at the end of a control arm. For the known construction, an antiroll bar flattened at the end is also provided with a cross hole which serves to accept a bearing journal. A corresponding cross hole for accepting a second bearing journal of the connection is developed in the control arm.
This known connection between an antiroll bar and a part of a wheel suspension of a motor vehicle has the disadvantage that not only must the connecting rod and control arm be expensively machined in order to accept a bearing shell or bearing journal, but also that a preparation of the antiroll bar is required which is made costly by the machining for flattening and metal cutting.
Therefore, the underlying purpose of the invention is to improve the connection, carried out by means of a connecting rod, of an antiroll bar to a part of a wheel suspension with the aim of reducing the machining processes, thus reducing cost.
The solution by means of the invention to this problem is characterized by the fact that each end of a connecting rod is provided with a bearing journal running in an axial direction, which is supported, by means of a bearing shell, in a receiver opening of the wheel suspension or in the tubular end of the antiroll bar.
The improvement, in accordance with the invention, of the known connection obviates the necessity of a costly machining of the end of an antiroll bar which accepts the bearing journal of a connecting rod, since the bearing shell belonging to this bearing journal, due to the arrangement of the bearing journal in an axial extension of the respective end of the connecting rod, can simply be inserted directly in the end of a tubular antiroll bar. It is only required to cut the tubular antiroll bar precisely to the required final dimension. Since the other bearing journal of the connecting rod is supported by means of a bearing shell in a receiver opening of the wheel suspension, in particular, of a control arm, which already must be provided, due to the fact that it is suspended, with at least one additional receiver opening, the machining processes of a control arm or of the part of a wheel suspension connected to an antiroll bar are decreased and simplified. This part can be machined in a chuck with a reduced number of cutting processes such that a reduction of work and cost also results in this respect. In addition, various fastening parts are no longer needed with the improvement in accordance with the invention, since the bearing journals are formed directly on the connecting rod. Above and beyond this, the alignment of the bearing journals to a connecting rod and of the bearing shells to the antiroll bar or control arm which is more favorable in comparison to the known state of the art allows the volume of the individual parts to be decreased and consequently produces a weight savings. Finally, the improvement in accordance with the invention results in a more limited assembly cost, achieving, all in all, a substantial cost savings.
In accordance with an additional feature of the invention, the bearing journals can be in the form of ball pivots, which preferably are formed as a single piece with the connecting rod.
In order to facilitate arranging a sealing boot for a respective steering joint, a flute can be formed, in accordance with an additional feature of the invention, in the transitional area between the connecting rod and the ball pivot, as a seating for an edge reinforcement of a sealing boot. In addition, it is possible to develop a bearing shell having a receiver groove for the other edge reinforcement of a sealing boot.